Cavatelli with Cherry Tomatoes and Asparagus

 

Cavatelli with Cherry Tomatoes and Asparagus

Alas, the time has come for me to get back in the cooking game. Although I have made dinners here and there, I really haven't been cooking as much as I promised myself back in January when I decided cooking more would be a new years resolution. I just really haven't had the time - staying at work until 6:30 and then having a 45 minute commute home takes a toll. By 8 pm, I just want to lounge and read and not have to worry about cooking a meal and ending up with a messy kitchen. Don't get me wrong, living in Oakland hasn't been bad in the slightest. I am surrounded by some of the best restaurants of the bay, and life is a lot quieter here. But the commute really limits my time at home, and in turn, time in the kitchen. 

I have just recently found a new place to call home in SF, and was lucky to find four boys that were willing to live with a goofy girl who likes to cook. I hope they have big appetites because they don't know how much I will force them to eat my food/leftovers. Heh heh heh... 

I haven't had much time to read my food magazines recently, and I had the day off, so I decided today would be a good day to have a mimosa in the sun and catch up on my reading. I stumbled upon a recipe for cavatelli, which I haven't made before, so I decided to go for it. I had some leftover pasta dough I made recently, so I decided to use that instead of going through the pasta making process - which can add an hour+ to your recipe. The recipe I based my dish after can be found here, which has an easy homemade pasta recipe (the original recipe uses ricotta in the recipe, which would be have made my dish taste better).

The nice part of this recipe is that you don't need a pasta maker to make the cavatelli, so hopefully all you hopeful pasta making devils have a whack at it! I added cherry tomatoes, pancetta, and pine nuts to my recipe, so I'd be interested in seeing what the original recipe is intended to taste like. I thought mine was bomb, but I suppose I am biased. =)

Ingredients:

1 ball of pasta dough

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and thinly sliced (leave the tips whole)
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (about 1 ounce), plus more for topping
1/2 cup pine nuts

About 20 cherry tomatoes

1 package cubed pancetta

Directions:

1. Working with 1 piece at a time (and keeping the other pieces of dough wrapped), roll the dough on the counter with your hands into a 1/2-inch-thick log. With a knife or bench scraper, cut the log into 1/2-inch pieces. Roll each piece into a small ball. Flatten each ball of dough with your finger. Place the back of a butter knife on the flattened dough and gently pull it toward you so the dough curls around the knife. Repeat to form the remaining cavatelli; transfer to a floured baking sheet as you go.

 

 

 

 

2. Preheat a toaster oven or oven to 400 degrees; place the cherry tomatoes on a piece of foil and add a splash of olive oil, salt and pepper on top. Take another piece of foil and lightly place it on top of the tomatoes so they don't burn, just soften

3. Cook the cubed pancetta in a large saucepan, and transfer to a paper towel when it has turned brown and started to crisp; transfer to a paper towel but leave the grease

 

4. Using the same saucepan, melt the butter and add the asparagus and lemon zest and juice.

 

5. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Transfer the cavatelli to a colander and shake over the baking sheet to remove the excess flour. Add the cavatelli to the boiling water and cook until al dente, about 5 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a toaster oven or on a baking sheet at 200 degrees - just watch these bad boys because they go from golden to burned in about half a second!

7. Remove the cavatelli with a strainer or slotted spoon and add directly to the skillet along with 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water. Cook, stirring gently, until the pasta is coated and the asparagus is tender, 3 to 4 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the Parmesan, pancetta, pine nuts, and then top with the tomatoes; serve with more Parmesan if you wish.